


Path of Fire

by MinyaPaws



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Multi, Original Character(s), Ox Kingdom, saiyan saga
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:54:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29033505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinyaPaws/pseuds/MinyaPaws
Summary: For those of you that have been reading "Ox Queen" this is my prequel based on the flashback sections of the other story. Those sections are going to be rewritten slightly and posted here.For those of you that are new here, welcome. This story is about Chai, Goku and Chi-Chi's oldest daughter and the next in line to rule the Ox Kingdom. Pulled between royal duties and the desires of her own heart, this story watches Chai as she grows into her own. I also plan to focus more on Gohan than the other story does.
Relationships: Android 18/Krillin (Dragon Ball), Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Bulma Briefs/Yamcha, Chi-Chi/Son Goku (Dragon Ball), Future Trunks Briefs/Original Female Character(s), Videl Satan/Son Gohan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RoyalBlueRoses](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoyalBlueRoses/gifts).



Rain tapped against the window and trickled along the tiled roof overhead. Outside, the trees got the gentle watering that they deserved, preserving their emerald leaves despite the late February cold. Winters were mild here, thanks to the warm waters from the Southern coast that pushed a temperate breeze up into Mount Paozu. 

“It was the name of the first queen, and since I abdicated my rule to marry you, Goku-sa, I figure I would honor my ancestors by naming her Chai,” Chi-Chi said from the windowsill. 

She sat in a rocking chair, wrapped in a blanket, letting the motion sway her precious bundle to sleep. So far, the girl proved to be a very good baby. She didn’t cry much, and ate about what Chi-Chi expected, having been Goku’s daughter. 

“ 'Abdicated' ?” Goku asked. He was dressed in his usual orange gi, holding a plate of muffins that his wife had made earlier. They still wafted a gooey chocolate scent through the house. Chi-Chi counted quickly, and of course, he had all but two muffins on that plate.

She sighed at his lack of understanding. Normally, she had plenty of patience for explaining things to Goku. It wasn’t his fault that he grew up in the jungle, after all. Recently giving birth made her tired, however, and the amount of feeding Chai required took a lot out of Chi-Chi, even if the girl did sleep through most nights.

_That settles it. Any child I have is going to be well-educated._

“It means I gave up the right to rule,” she said, before turning down to her precious bundle.“You’re going to have a good vocabulary, won’cha’ Chai-chan,” Chi-Chi cooed. 

She gently tapped her baby’s nose. A tiny hand grabbed onto the woman’s pale finger and shook it as large ebony eyes opened, one after the other. The assertive display brought a smile to Chi-Chi’s face as Goku came over and sat across from her, looking down at the baby. 

“Yes, we will have an excellent vocabulary,” the woman said, matter-of-factly.

“She’s so tiny, Chi,” Goku nearly whispered. 

The matriarch nodded, then looked up to see a piece of muffin being offered to her. She nibbled it off of her husband’s fingertips, giggling at the crumbs that covered his own mouth. There was no way he had the grace to sit at court, though Goku would have made an honorable king. Even among the Twelve Kingdoms that the Ox belonged to, he was considered a hero of great caliber. Chi-Chi’s choice of husband surprised no one. The Ox Kingdom was a warrior kingdom, and so of course the Ox Princess would choose the strongest man on Earth. 

_Probably helps that I love him_ , Chi-Chi smiled. She happily chewed the chocolate morsel and looked down at her baby. Another hand was reaching up towards the mother’s face, probably to try and get some of what she just ate. 

“I can’t wait until she’s big enough to train,” Goku added proudly

A small squeal escaped baby Chai’s lips, but Chi-Chi was not so amused. Immediately, her brow furrowed as she stared down her husband. _I love this idiot._

“She is a princess, Goku!!!” 

“So?” he shrugged, picking up another muffin. “Wha’s the big deal, babe?”

Chi-Chi began shaking so much that the chair under her shivered. She’d be worried if she wasn’t holding probably the most durable baby on Earth. True to her suspicions, Chai was giggling at the vibration.

“Don’t you ‘babe’ me, Goku-sa, if you want another baby in a few years!! Princesses don’t fight, and they don’t train!! I want her to be able to marry a prince and rule the Ox Kingdom!!”

The man scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. “But you fought, and you were a princess… I mean, it was _your_ idea for us to get married.”

The woman lurched forward, baby close to her breast. A small brown tail wrapped around Chi-Chi’s wrist as Goku scooted his chair away from her. Somehow, the chocolate muffins remained on the plate. He ended up with the back of his chair pressed against a nearby wall and Chi-Chi’s finger pointed at him, one nail less than an inch from his nose.

“Yes. Yes it was. And now it’s my idea that she marries a prince. Princes don't like tough girls. They like pretty, ladylike princesses!!!”

“I dunno, Chi-Chi. I mean, ain’t you getting ahead of yourself?”

“ _Ahead of myself?!!_ ” She growled back, exasperated.

“Well, what if she doesn’t want to be queen?”

Chi-Chi shook her head and went back to her chair with a huff. “Daddy isn’t going to live forever, ya know. And it’s not like I have any siblings. It’ll have to be Chai.”

Goku got on his knees in front of her, his large hands clasped together as he pouted. He looked up at her with big dark eyes. Pleading eyes. Eyes that didn’t know the effect they had on her, for all of his innocence. 

“Can’t I train the next one?”

“The next one is going to be a scholar.”

“What about the one after that?” The Son woman sighed audibly. “Oh, c’mon, Chi-Chi!!” 

“How many children do you think we are having, Son Goku!??”

He shrugged again as he stood to retrieve the plate of muffins from the floor. She did not even see when he placed it down earlier. The platter was nearly empty. He’d eaten 38 muffins in the span of a 20 minute conversation. 

_How am I going to feed him AND his children??_

“I was thinkin’ three or four. Neither of us had siblings.” he then smiled broadly, offering her another bit of muffin. Chi-Chi graciously took it. Normally she didn’t snack between meals but pregnancy changed that and her husband seemed all too happy to encourage that change. “I think it would be fun to have a houseful of kids.”

Again, she blushed. A houseful of children was what she wanted. 

“Let’s start with two then see what we think, Goku-sa.”

“I hope the next one is a boy.”


	2. Welcome to Your Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We fast forward to the Saiyan Saga. Goku has died, leaving his family broken but getting by while Chai navigates her new sense of home and counts down the days until she can be reunited with brother and father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!!!! I'm so sorry for the long wait!!! It's been crazy at work and home, and just balancing reworking my old flashbacks and not trying to let any one story get completely forgotten. I never said I was good at time management haha
> 
> If any of you are reading Ox Queen, I dropped my latest chapter a few weeks ago. It was the first one that completely had my beta, RoyalBlueRoses, eyes on it and it's spectacular, thanks to her!! I also updated the first chapter for it!! More hot mess Chai, less hot mess writing. 
> 
> By the way, RoyalBlueRoses is also an amazing writer, so if you're not reading her work, you're missing out!!
> 
> If you are familiar with the flashbacks from Ox Queen then that is what this chapter is. Its the first two flashbacks and I'm sorry to those of you who are waiting for an update. You're sticking by me and being patient. I will forever love you for that. However, this is rewritten with a couple extra scenes and it's just a bit sadder if you want to go ahead and read it for me.
> 
> Rate and review, please and thank you!!! 
> 
> Also, if you comment or leave kudos as an account user, I always check out if you have work for me to read as well ;)
> 
> Thank you so much! You guys are amazing! And happy reading!

Chai vividly remembered the day her father died.

Her 11th birthday had passed that year. Childhood was coming to an end and the princess was to begin looking towards her future. Studying not only how to lead, but how to present herself as the ruler of the Ox Kingdom took up her time. On the day Papa took Gohan-san to show him off at Roshi-sama’s, Mama gave Chai a notebook, a huge sheet of paper, pens, crayons and instructions to re-imagine the kingdom. And to take it seriously, because those would be tentative blueprints. After all, they’d never rebuilt it after her parents got married. There was always a war for Grandpa to fight and heal his people from. 

_"But, Mama, I can't possibly think of everything!" Chai cried, a mess of art supplies on her desk. She’d already ripped the large sheet of paper from erasing her doodles for the 30th time._

_Her mother stood inside of the doorway. She was still a lovely vision, even with her long hair tied up and an apron around her waist. The toned arms peeking out from her cheongsam could still offer quite the swatting._

_"Well, you will have to learn to! You need to think of all of your subjects."_

_The little girl pushed her wild bangs out of her face and pouted. "Why can't you help me?"_

_Chi-Chi crossed her arms over her chest. "Now, young lady. I have a whole house to keep up, including feeding your father, yourself and your brother. Somehow, both of you inherited Goku’s appetite!! And besides, what do you think those are for?" she asked, now pointing over to Chai's bookshelf, brimming with fairy tales, histories of the 12 Kingdoms (mostly handwritten by Chi-Chi and the current archivist), and instructional books on warfare and industry._

_"Study whatcha don't know, missy," Mama said finally, before leaving the room._

The next day they learned Papa had died and Gohan had been kidnapped. Not once but twice, and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. Piccolo was training Gohan in the Wastelands for the next year, and soon they would face the two other Saiyajins who were heading to Earth. Meanwhile, Chai was busy drawing castles. It seemed her baby brother was the one growing up too fast. 

For weeks Mama cried and hardly spoke, going about her chores as if it were her last lifeline. Grandpa tried to help. He had told her to let herself grieve and he'd take over, but Mama wouldn't have it. 

After two months had passed, Chai was brought out of her room by her grandpa’s smoky scent as he came into the house. Every interaction with someone was welcomed by the pre-teen, desperate to cut through the joylessness of her own house. Mama was in the bath at the moment, so she ran out to greet him. He hefted a large cow onto the kitchen table and looked down at the girl with a large grin.

“That oughta do it!!! Chai, my dear, can you hand me a knife?”

The girl rummaged through her mother’s utensils and knives, looking for something she could remember her parents carving with. She pulled out a long blade and handed it over to the Ox King. 

He smiled, starting on an incision in the bovine’s neck when Mama suddenly screamed.

“Dad!!!?!!? What on Earth!!!!”

“It’s a 3 year old heffer, Chi-chan.”

“I know what it is!!! I want to know _why_ it’s on my table!!!”

“Well, you and Chai-chan are getting thin. Hell, I bet Gohan is packin’ on - Chi-Chi dear!!!”

Chai rushed over as her mother fell to pieces on the floor. The Ox King sighed and continued on his work. It would not have done for the cow to go to waste. 

Chai had learned quite a bit about cooking that year. That was when Mama spoke the most, giving corrections here and there but mostly allowing her daughter to cook as the woman gazed into a full teacup. Chi-Chi had become most sluggish in the mornings. That was possibly the starkest difference in her Mama’s personality as she worked through her greif. Chai was sometimes up before Chi-Chi and so the girl would pull open the fridge door and begin pulling out meats and eggs to cook. 

One morning, the egg supply had gone dry, and Chai went back to her room to get her slippers and put on her coat over her pajamas. She went out into the yard with a bucket for the eggs. The dew from the grass sweetened the air and left droplets on her pajama pants as she went to the short wooden pen where their chickens clucked amongst themselves. Inside of the pen, surrounded by poultry, was Mama. Her hair was undone and she wore only her robe. In front of her chest were two handfuls of eggs, shaking as she cried in the middle of the chicken pen.

Chai hurried forward, gently pulling the bounty from her mothers hands and placing them in the bucket. As she did so, Chi-Chi slowly dropped her hands to her sides and crouched down, crying into her knees and getting herself completely filthy. She was going to want a shower once she recovered herself.

“Mama, what?”

“Your father would want infinite eggs!! Always!! I’d.. get so mad… tell him, ‘Goku-sa, we don’t have infinite chickens!!!’ ” she sobbed.

“Well, we don’t _have_ infinite chickens,” Chai offered.

Chi-Chi then lifted her head upwards and pulled her daughter towards her. She held Chai by the elbows as tears still fell from her eyes, but the matriarch smiled. “Chai-chan, let’s get infinite chickens. Before Goku-sa and Gohan-chan come home.”

Chai smiled, a single tear streaming down her cheek. “Okay, Mama. We’ll have infinite chickens.”

Even as her mother recovered, and became the vivacious, energetic housewife she was known to be, Chai was not allowed to be a part of certain conversations. Her mother would send her out of the room so Krillin could tell her about Raditz and his awful power. Every now and again, Bulma would call and attempt to cheer up the Sons with her optimism and updates on hunting the Dragonballs. Of course, when it came time to whisper about the Saiyajins, Chai would be sent out and she’d listen by the door as her mother spoke in a hushed tone.

A year had passed and so when Mama was still asleep, Chai slipped into a comfy green cheongsam and white pants before summoning Kinto Un and sneaking off into the dusk. She didn't know when Papa would arrive but she knew she wouldn't get away if she waited. Plus,she wanted to see these Saiyajins for herself. 

Chai rested on the fluffy cloud as they followed the path towards Gohan's energy. It had slowly increased over the past year and Chai had been silently tracking it's progression. Her brother must have been learning a lot. Tracking family members' ki was one of the few things Mama allowed Papa to teach the kids, though Gohan wasn't very good at it a year ago. 

_Maybe he’ll be good at it now, and I’ll have to hide my ki when we play hide and seek._

As she travelled further into the desert, the sun began to cast eerie shadows from the mountains, their serene tips looking more like treacherous flames to her. Chai tried to pay attention to Gohan's ki, which grew ever closer, as well as an energy she didn't recognize. It was near him, and nearly as powerful as she could remember Papa being. 

_Papa..._

A tear fell from Chai's eye but she smiled anyways. _Mama will be so happy. We can be a family again._

Eventually, Chai could sense her brother as though he were right next to her. Her tail whipped in excitement as Kinto Un dove downwards, plunging them closer to the Earth. Patches of green turned into forests, farms and tiny dots became live people and animals. The nearer she got to the ground, the more she could make out the two figures she was searching for, one much taller than the other.

She jumped down, the dry desert sand invading her nostrils. Chai didn’t mind. Her baby brother was nearly unrecognizable, now taller and broader than before. His hair was longer and wilder, more closely resembling Chai's own long, dark tresses and he was dressed in navy and white.

"Chai?" he asked in disbelief.

The girl felt her body tremble as she ran towards him. Gohan was still shorter than her, amazingly. He yelped out as she picked him up, crying out her happiness. He was heavier now, and absolutely filthy. So what? Chai had her brother again!!

"Hey!" he cried. "Calm down, Sissy!"

She shook him a few times before placing her brother back on his feet. The girl sniffled back the rest of her tears in an attempt to recover her dignity. She was a princess, after all. Chai then turned to the nearby stranger; her brother's presumed master. He was tall - taller than even Papa - and had green skin. His clothes were like Gohan's but his presence was vastly different. Strong, stern, but not evil. Not like the stories she'd heard of Piccolo Daimon, the Demon King. 

He regarded the girl with little interest as she looked up at him, coming only to his knees. He smelled different from most other people, but not the way her family smelled different. He smelled like grass and cooking oil. Did all demons smell this way? _Maybe he smells alright because he’s the Demon Prince? Prince! Manners. Right!_ Chai blushed deeply, lowering into a bow. 

"Um... uh... that's not necessary," Piccolo stuttered. Beside them, Gohan laughed.

Chai peered up through her bangs but did not rise. "It's custom."

"Just stand up," he muttered. Chai rose to stand straight, her head high, as she was taught. Piccolo looked her over with his arms crossed over his chest. "So you're Gohan's sister."

"Yes, sir."

"Mmmhmmm... maybe once your dad gets back, he should whip you into shape as well."

Chai smiled gleefully at the thought. When she was younger, she used to charge at her Papa full force. He'd playfully push her with a laugh and she'd charge again. Mama would shake her head.

_“Be careful. Don’t be so rough, Goku-sa.”_

_“Ah, but Chi, she likes it.”_

_Chai then turned to her mother, holding her fingers at her head like horns. She got riled up so easily, hungering to tumble around and pounce on things._

_“Roar!! Mama imma get you!!”_

_Five-year old feet padded on the wooden floor as the girl ran at her mother, and got caught up in her skirts._

_“Oh!! Chai-chan!!!” Chi-chi let out a sigh then smiled at her little one whose tail slithered on the floor happily. “You certainly are the Ox Princess aren’t ya?”_

"Hey Sissy! Check this out!" Gohan called.

When Chai turned, he held a ball of ki, like the ones Papa used to make when Mama wasn't looking. Chai stared at her brother in awe, slowly feeling as though she was missing out on something amazing. 

"Teach me," she breathed. 

*****

Several hours passed. It was supposed to be easy. 

‘Concentrate on the energy in your body and focus it into your hand.’ Those were Gohan-kun’s simplified instructions. 

In actuality, it was exhausting. 

Chai could sense the energy in her body and she could push it all to one place but where her brother produced blue energy the size of a baseball, she produced something the size of a pebble, crackling out onto her fingertips; shocking her skin as it did so. The pain would cause her to lose focus and it would fizzle out immediately. 

The first time the girl was successful, her overwhelming joy at the miniscule light was zipped by the jolt shooting through her fingertips, making her cry out while the tiny light disappeared like a skittish mouse. Chai stared down at her hand, looking for blood where there was none. If a tiny bit of energy sent a shock through her, how would she produce what Gohan could? How would she ever do a kamehameha wave like Papa? 

“You’re just not used to the feel of it leaving your body,” Gohan-kun told her.

Chai nodded and closed her eyes to refocus when she felt the air shift around her. She snapped her eyes open to see Gohan and Piccolo staring up into the sky. This new chi was immensely powerful. More powerful than Papa, Chai realized. Her hands fell to her side as her stomach dropped to settle in her knees. 

“So the Saiyajins have finally arrived,” Piccolo said, cooly.

“What an incredible ki, Piccolo-san,” Gohan said. 

‘What am I doing here?’ Chai wondered to herself. She tried to keep her face as neutral as possible. Gohan turned to look over at her and saw the fear in her eyes. 

He frowned at her, causing the girl’s brow to furrow more and her eyes to stray from his gaze. She perhaps could fool the others but not her brother, even after a year of absence. The combination of her nerves and lack of breakfast shot the sour taste of bile into her mouth, making Chai grimace. 

_Humiliating. Vomiting at violence. I can’t._

Above them, birds migrated away from the direction of the energy in droves, like a black mass covering the sky. A huge flash of light blinded her and a huge gust of wind blew. The trio grounded themselves to the dirt and grass, resisting the force of the blast occurring several thousand kilometers away. There were caws of pain and confusion as the birds passing above them were forced forward at neck-break speeds. Chai tried hard not to hear the thud as a few fell at their feet.

The air was suddenly still around her. She could still feel the reverberation in her veins. Another thud landed closer than she would have liked. Gohan groaned, making Chai gulp audibly. She could smell it. The dying bird near their feet. And it wasn’t like meat killed for food. This was senseless death. Piccolo-san seemed to not react at all. She was beginning to get used to his ki and it did not fluctuate. 

_Of course. Demon Prince._

The sound of whipping fabric and a thud occurred near her, causing Chai to look behind as a dead crow dropped inches from her feet. She screamed out and snapped her eyes shut, trying to focus on stilling the shaking of her bones.

“Do not be afraid,” Piccolo-san declared. 

Chai opened her eyes and cast them upward to find he’d removed his cape and was now tossing aside his turban. It hit the ground with a solid _thwack_ as two green antennae sprung forward. The girl audibly gasped at how truly alien Piccolo looked. 

“We’ve become so strong, it’s incomparable to what we were a year ago,” he continued, his voice sure. 

“R-right!” Gohan-kun said, shakily.

“Something is coming this way from that direction!” Piccolo-san shouted, as he took a stance. “And from over there!”

“Weren’t there only supposed to be two Saiyajins?” Chai exclaimed.

Unmistakable, there were more presences quickly making their way towards the three of them. As one approached, the ki felt familiar to the Ox Princess, but she couldn't place it. Chai felt more than heard one jump from a mountaintop to land in front of them. Short as Chai and Gohan, bald, large dark eyes, and six dots on his head like a monk, wearing a twin to her Papa’s gi.

“Krillin-san!!!” Chai cheered.

“Hey Chai-chan. Oh boy, you’re moms gonna be unhappy,” he chuckled before turning to the larger man. “Long time no see, Piccolo,” Krillin greeted. 

_Who does the other ki belong to?_

“Oh, so it’s you,” Piccolo-san chuckled. “Did you come to get in our way?” 

“Don’t talk like that. I’ve improved a little, myself,” Krillin-san replied. 

“So it appears. Looks like there are some other fools who mean to come here,” Piccolo replied.

Chai couldn’t push away her disappointment. She knew none of those ki’s were her Papa. She’d recognize his. Still, what was taking so long? She stared up at the position of the sun where it sat in the middle of the sky. It was noon already. 

“Yeah, I’m sure everyone is coming. I guess I was just the closest one,” Krillin replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I remember! You’re one of the people that was at the Turtle Hermit-sama’s place,” Gohan interjected.

“Gohan-kun,” Chai chided. “He’s our Uncle Krillin. He and Papa trained under Muten Roshi-sama together. They are very old friends.”

Krillin put his hands on his hips and regarded the boy.

“You’re just like Goku-san was, when he was a kid,” Krillin told him.

Gohan hopped towards him, the wide smile shining nearly as bright as the sun. Being compared to Papa was quite the compliment. 

“You’re small but strong right? That’s what Papa said a lot! You’re going to fight with us, right?” Gohan babbled while Krillin side-eyed the boy.

“He didn’t have to include the “small” part,” Krillin muttered, then leaned over to Gohan and whispered something Chai couldn’t pick up on. There was a tiny pang of jealousy in her chest watching them talk back and forth like old friends. It was her and Mama who Krillin had been checking up on. 

“Enough chit-chat. They’re here!” Piccolo interrupted.

The four stared up into the sky, taking in the two enemies positioned right in the face of the sun. They smirked as though expecting to be exalted by it’s rays, staring down at the heroes in arrogance. One was tall, perhaps as tall as Piccolo with a mustache and a bald head. The second one was not much taller than Krillin, with angular features and a hair standing like a flame. They both wore devices over one eye, and yellow tipped armor. Around their waists were tails, like Chai and Goha- WAIT!!!

Chai stared back at her brother for a moment. 

_Where… where is his tail?_

Instinctively, she felt for hers and found it twitching behind her where it belonged.

_So… if **they** have tails. And **we** have tails… isn’t that what Raditz said though, according to Bulma and Krillin? That we were the same as them? That Raditz himself was Papa's brother._

She looked downward to the birds laying dead at their feet. No more than casualties of a blast meant to kill hundreds of people. A blast which occurred soon after feeling the energy of these saiyajins landing on Earth.

_And we just waited here for them? How many died while we waited? Are we the same as those monsters?_

She looked back up at the duo, shielding her eyes from the glaring sun. There was a satisfied grin on each of their faces. Their eyes twinkled like Chai’s would on Christmas morning at the sight of new things for her to play with. She wrinkled her nose as she stared back. 

_No. We are not the same. I’m not a Saiyajin._

“Th-those are the Saiyajins, huh?” Krillin trembled. “Indeed, I can sense an incredible ki from them. D-Danger truly is closing in on us!” 

“Chai, right?” Piccolo asked.

The girl broke her focus from the invaders and looked up at the green man. “Yes.”

“You’re nowhere near ready to fight. You’ll likely just get in the way.”

“B-but!! I wanted to be here when Papa arrived!!”

“I agree with Piccolo, Chai-chan,” Krillin spoke up. “I don’t want to deliver bad news again.”

“I don’t understand…” 

“I respect your guts, kid, but this is a battle. If you can’t fight, you will likely just be fodder. I don’t think your dad wants to come home to that, do you?”

Chai dropped her head. Boy, was he blunt. He was right though… Still, Mama was going to be angry, and the girl really didn’t want to face her. What else could she do though?

“Kinto Un!” she called, meekly. 

The cloud hovered next to her as the two Saiyajins touched down. Chai hopped on slowly, not wanting to give them any cause to go after her. 

“Promise me you’ll be careful,” she told her brother. Gohan nodded, not looking away from the enemy. Probably a good idea.

The girl positioned herself as to not give her back to the two, and felt the cloud float her into the sky. For a moment, she wondered if they were going to just let her go. There was no honor in attacking a noncombatant. And warriors fight with honor. 

The large one smiled suddenly and opened his hand. A familiar shape began to appear in his outstretched palm. 

_That… that’s not for me. I’m a civilian here._

_Yeah, and so were the people they killed before.._ something else whispered inside her.

“Really, Nappa?” the shorter one chuckled.

The tall one raised his eyebrow and the corner of his lip lifted in a smirk, making Chai’s heart thud like a drum. She didn’t know why time seemed to stop. He pulled his hand back and launched the blast at her. 

“Kinto Un, hurry!!” Chai screamed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". There's way too many versions for me to list but I was listening to Patti Smith's iteration when I rewrote this.


End file.
